Ch11
Final Stance
Continuing from the flash back of the previous chapter:
The rain continued to wash his muddy face. "Tchi…" he hissed before clenching his hand into a fist of frusturation and closed his eyes once more. A crinkle was heard as he softened the grip on his hand. Before his fading vision, a small note was placed in his hand unknowingly. With some difficulty, he drew it closer to his eyes for a better look.
It wrote, "The time approaches, Our next may be your last."
Sasuke's eyes widened with a choke from the pain in his stomach. He held that small cut of paper before his eyes and read the message over and over again with a speechless look on his face. Then, as his hand fell of exhaustion and consciousness began to fade, his lips curved upwards with a dark yet satisfying grin.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Salty drops fell to the earth as the sun beat down its blazing rays, drying up what little humidity that was left in Konoha forest. The boy drew in deep breaths as he rang his thirsty throat. The sounds of summer bugs howled with uncanny hymns and even the wind blew hot air against the cries of the leaves.
Mental, physical, spiritual, all was reaching its limits as the boy calmed himself and focused into a trans-like state. His muscles began to flex as though he was lifting a heavy load although his appearance remained relaxed. As he clenched the two fingers he held for his "Yin" vessels began to appear on the corners of his closed eyes. His relaxed expression began to fall as the boy bit his teeth hard as though he was struggling to keep his pose.
'I will surpass you…' his thought darkly as a purple-blue aura began to evaporate around his feet. 'and I will do it in my own way…' "Haaa…." The boy began to call, still keeping his eyes closed, 'You will not be the one to tell me what I need and do not need anymore! The only one I will follow will be my own will…' "gah!" the boy was about to cough but he held it in forcefully, "The next time we meet," his voice grew with volume with each word, "Will be your last!" he finished as he opened his eyes. The three pupils of the Sharingan spun rapidly as his surrounding chakura appeared as though was being sucked into the spiral.
An exploding wave of gust boomed through the forest making it as though the mightiest tree was bending back from the force. The boom was followed by utter silence. Not a peep, not even a summer bug's cry was heard. At the center of the deafening event was the boy who chuckled coldly with his eyes shadowed by his bangs.
Night fell slowly as the sun faded behind the pyramidal shadow before the four's eyes. A small sign ahead wrote "Kouki Mountain", marking the existence of such a grand sight at this remote inhabited land. It was unusually dry and warm at the foot of this steep incline of earth. Only small grass and vegetation spread ahead ending to some rocky grounds at the sign.. The air was still and thin. It has been a general uphill the entire time and they had already ran quite some height from sea level. Normally, they may not have even noticed the difference, but the heavy breathing from the hours of running require ever ounce of air they could pump into their lungs.
"Is everyone alright?" Kakashi glanced back at his team.
"I'm fine," Naruto replied energetically, though his steps showed a different answer.
"It's not far now but night's fallen and it would be difficult to maneuver across those rocks at our conditions." Sakura puffed.
"Yea, we'll stop at the rocks and spend the night there. We'll start first thing in the morning on the climb so be prepared!" Kakashi ordered.
Oooooooooooooooooooo
Naruto rested his back against one of the boulders and stretched out his arms with an expression on his face that said, "boy am I glad that we stopped running." There was an eerie atmosphere as they prepared to sleep. The wind wasn't quite blowing in the right direction? The rocks seemed out of place? Something about that desolated place held a high suspense in the air. The shadows made by the dimly lit moon outlined an almost monstrous life to the lifeless mountain. It was enough to make Sakura quiver at the thought.
Oooooooooooooooooooo
"Hello?" a voice called nervously into the cell phone.
"What news do you bring me?" came a reply.
"They're at Kouki Mountain and I heard something about a climb so I'm pretty sure they're headed to the top. Is this enough? Will you let us be!" Touji asked desperately.
"You've done well, as promised, I shall spare your family," (click) "Sasuke…this is your final chance. Tomorrow, fate will have to decide your life," Itachi closed his eyes as sounds of screaming echoed in his ears. He bit his lips and shook it off then began his way to the mountains.
Ooooooooooooooooo
A sudden chill shocked Sasuke's back as he jolted his head to the distance. "Something wrong Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.
A moment of silence paused the air, broken only by the snoring of the blond teen. "No, it's nothing," Sasuke finally replied and closed his eyes once more.
Morning came quietly. No sound of birds' chirping, the wind was at a dead stop. 'This place is freaky even during morning,' Sakura thought as she looked up to the top of the mountain.
"Sakura-chan? What's up with you?" Naruto looked over curiously.
"These types of places isn't exactly a place I'm too fond of," she forced a nervous smile and picked a a small rock.
"Really? Sakura-chan with all her brute force is still afraid of rocks of weird shapes huh?" Naruto laughed.
"What do you mean 'Brute Force'!" she shouted as the rock in her hand shattered in her grip.
"That…" Naruto sweat dropped and pointed.
Silence
"Shut up!" Sakura pouted and blushed.
Kakashi smiled under his mask, 'they're still kids,' he thought. "Alright you guys, stop fooling around. Let's get going, I want to reach the top by noon!" he announced.
Revitalized by their sleep, the way up was smooth, quick… and loud. It took them a mere 2hours to reach the top. Any normal man may have taken a day. The air was thin but clean, cleaner than they have ever tasted. The sun was still in the west, casting a golden glow upon the earth. Mother nature has truly used all of it's colors to create such a scene that could only be described as "spectacular".
With one last deep breath from Kakashi, the break was over. The group turned where four caves greeted them. All seemed so alike that it didn't seemed to have been done by nature but by the hands of men. The same perfect arc across the top, the same length of stalagmites and stalactites, even the amount of molds growing on any particular rock seemed to be the same.
"So which one do we enter?" Sakura asked.
"I don't know…" Naruto gave a small shrug, "Let's just pick one and if we don't find it, we'll go to a different one."
"Naruto…" Kakashi gave a sigh, "You don't even know how deep these caves are, it could take a whole day just searching and we don't have time like that."
"Hmm," the blond ninja groaned.
"The devil's guide," Sasuke started, "The devil's hand is your left hand so we just continue down the most left tunnel and continue down from there. If the road splits inside then we just keep going down the one most left, that the only clue we have to follow if you ask me."
"Well no one asked you!" Naruto snapped his head back angrily.
"Maybe if you used your head more intellectually rather than mechanically then you would understand these things," Sasuke replied calmly.
"What do you mean mechanically!" Naruto grabbed the collar of Sasuke's shirt forcefully.
"Haha, Your team is as lively as ever Kakashi-san," came a voice over the chattering.
Sasuke immediately turned with a flare of rage in his eyes, "Uchiha…Itachi!". His eyes focused upon the direction in which the figure approached.
"And so we finally meet again, are you ready?" Itachi said calmly.
"Yes, today will be our last fight. You will die…today," Sasuke replied as he closed his eyes.
"Foolish little brother," Itachi laughed, "I see your rage is still there. How far has your rage taken you this time?"
"You!" Naruto exclaimed, "I'm gonna kick your…"
"Naruto, Stay out of this!" Sasuke exclaimed roughly, stopping naruto's words in their tracks.
"What the hell are you talking about? You planning to take him alone?"
"A drop out like you will just get in my way. This is my fight and mine alone!"
"Why you…"
"Naruto," Kakashi pulled upon the boy's shoulder.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto looked back.
"Let him go. This is what his dedicated his life to. If you jump in…he might kill you," Kakashi sighed.
Both Naruto and Sakura's eyes opened as a memory flashed in their mind.
"I'm an avenger…I don't have any dreams but I do have an ambition and that is to kill that man someday."
It was the past Sasuke. The Sasuke still confined by the seal of Orochimaru. The sickening smile of a murderer that he wore on his face with a sense of pride. The Sasuke with hunger for power and thirst for blood. Just the thought sent a tenseness to their muscles as she swallowed loudly.
"Naruto-kun, don't worry, you will be next. All 8 jinchyuriki has been obtained and you possess the final and most power one of all. It is your turn now," Itachi announced casually.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"My anger toward you is still here," Sasuke grinned coolly, "But it's no longer what drives me."
Itachi's eye twitched and Kakashi's widened.
"I still hold every anger, furry, madness, everything for what you have done. But I've realized that I've got some precious comrades, a new family. I've lost everything once already, I won't stand and watch them disappear again!" he exclaimed.
"Sasuke…" Kakashi gasped.
Sakura turned her head just as Naruto turned her way with a surprised look on his face. Their eyes met for a few moments. Then the blond haired ninja revealed a large smile and held out his thumb up to her in a "Nice guy" pose, "I told you, Sasuke is strong!"
"Heh," Itachi chuckled, "Do you honestly believe that the result will be different from before?"
The smile on Sasuke's face widened as he put his hands together in a Yin. "As a matter of facts…" he took in a deep breath, "Mangekyou Sharingan!" he opened his eyes abruptly to reveal his 3 pupils, spinning rapidly. Then slowly, they merged into a triangle as their swirl came to a slow stop.
"Nani!" an exclaim was heard from all 4 ninjas that stood by.
"I do," Sasuke finished his sentence and breathed out.
End…
Reviews
Sorry for the long wait. I hope you guys are still with me. Hope you liked the chapter. Don't forget to review I hope I'll get a bit more than last time
Shia-lim: This was the soonest I could update. Hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks for all your support
Melanie Star: Hey you updated! I just noticed as I clicked on your name when I'm writing this reply to you. It's a bit late over here now so I'll make sure to read it tomorrow and give you a review.
Iiiris: Haha, movie 9 so far has been awesome. Hopefully I'll finish translating by next week. I'm sending Kaze sections of it as I work so you guys can get started on editing it as I continue translate it. Let's make this release something to be remembered…in a good way :-)
MingShun: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. More to come, tons more! Hope you'll like them just as much
Celestial Jade: Haha, I was told to make my summary better cause before I just wrote "Ch5 up……R&R" by someone so I actually sat down and thought about it for a while. Sorry if my chapters are a bit short each but I'm prefer quality over quantity and so does everyone right? Lol, thanks for your support
If you like this story and don't review, I'll…I'll!…I'll…umm…yea…………….give reviews!
Thanks Mingshun for catching that mistake. I actually wrote a small scene back in Konoha which I deleted later on and I must have missed a bit. Sorry bout that all and thanks again for telling me